Distinctive!
Different! That best describes the AMC Marlin. There certainly was nothing else
like it on the road when it debuted in 1965. How did the Marlin come to be? How did the design concept begin? Viewing the Marlin in retrospect, we can see
that it has proven to be one of the most popular of all collectible AMCs. Let’s look back and see how this unique
automobile started.

Early in 1963, American Motors
management started angling for “a new car with a sports flair”.Richard (Dick) Teague, then AM’s Director of
Styling, and his staff were happy to comply. Their average age hovered around 35, and they
were excited about developing a car more suited to younger tastes. One opinion by Jim Alexander, a former AM
designer, was that Teague chose a compact fastback because he had heard about Plymouth’s
soon-to-be-released Barracuda “and felt that we could do something like that,
too”.On the other hand, Vince Geraci, who
managed Senior Car exteriors, couldn’t recall any mention of the Barracuda at
that time but suggested that Teague “wanted a fighter for the Mustang. [And] we
didn’t have the wherewithal that Ford had to retool. We either had to take it
off the American body, or off the Classic body”.

The 1964 Rambler Tarpon Concept Car

Either way, Teague’s answer
was a pillarless, fastback roofline grafted on to AM’s entry-level Rambler
American. After Abernethy approved an initial clay study, the designers
completed a steel-and-fiberglass prototype in June 1963. A special grille and a
slick new interior with four bucket seats, full instrumentation, and AM’s
“Twin-Stick” overdrive completed the package.

AMC press release
photo of the Tarpon

The
result was the Tarpon Concept Car. A
sporty youth-oriented 2 plus 2 hardtop coupe developed in 1963 by American
Motors Corporation. The main characteristic was its
sleek sloping fastback roof that narrowed as it met the rear bumper. The Tarpon
featured two huge and deep taillights that flowed down from the shoulders of
the rear fender. The show car was finished in red with a black roof accenting
its clean shape from the windshield back to almost the rear bumper. The smooth roofline was unbroken by the almost
horizontal rear window. However, there was no trunk lid or outside hatch to
access the cargo area.

This modest creation
debuted, to widespread approval, at the annual convention of the Society of
Automotive Engineers in Detroit
in January 1964. Then, at the Chicago Auto Show in February which was the
public debut of the bright red Rambler Tarpon fastback concept car.It was very
well-received at the Chicago Show well before the so called "pony
car" market segment was established.

Rambler Tarpon at the 1964 Chicago Auto Show

Next Rambler/AMC showed the
Tarpon to the S.A.E. (Society of Automotive Engineers) national convention
February 17th 1964 in Cobo Hall in Detroit,
Michigan and was an instant
success.Reaction was similar at the
1964 New York International Auto Show in April
together with the Mustang II (a concept design shown before the production
version was unveiled).By this
time 60 percent of the potential buyers surveyed said they’d like to hook one
and bring it home.

Tarpon Display at the 1964 Chicago Auto Show

The
Tarpon made appearances at other car shows that year and attracted a lot of
positive attention. But the car never went into production. Little known it had
no trunk the dash was had out of cardboard, had no engine, and the spring were
pulled down with chains to give that lower look.

The
overall appearance of the Tarpon was striking. It made you feel like jumping in
and going for a drive. Once again, Dick Teague and his staff had produced a
highly unique and pleasing styling concept, while using many “off-the-shelf”
production items and existing sheet metal.

Design Development

Tooling for the 1964 model year was already set, so
working with platforms already available it was decided to modify the compact-sized Rambler American platform for the
Tarpon Concept Car.A convertible chassis was used (106 inch wheelbase), but the Tarpon was
slightly longer, 180 inches compared to 177.25 for the Rambler American.The result was a sweeping fastback
roof line, lowered two inches for an even more dynamic look. The semi-boat tail roof was accented with
black vinyl. The
Tarpon's roof was lowered two inches making it only 52.5 inches high instead
of the standard 54.5 inches for an American hardtop that provided a new and
even more dynamic look.The Tarpon was
also slightly longer, at 180 inches, versus 177.25 inches for the American
hardtop.

Rambler Design Studio – Tarpon Concept Car

To
further enhance the impression of sleekness and low appearance, the Tarpon had
a new swept back deeply angled compound-curve windshield.The side window openings were also swept back
to just above the center of the rear wheels ending in a semi-elliptical treatment.The modified Tarpon’s convex grille reflected
the 1964 American styling theme, but was distinctive, handsome, and the
exterior was striking -- painted in deep gold-flecked vermillion.According to Alexander (who stands six feet
six inches) shorter individuals were strategically positioned closest to
Marlin's windshield pillars to make the roof look just a bit lower than it
really was.Designer Vince Geraci was
one of these individuals.

Rambler Design Studio – Tarpon Photos

Other
unique Tarpon styling highlights included aluminum 13 inch wheels, instead of
the normal production 14 inch steel wheels
found on the rest of the Rambler line to make the car
lower, knock-off spinners, and custom taillights.There was room for four passengers in the
“advanced-concept interior”, with specially-designed bucket seats in black
vinyl to match the roof-top vinyl panel. A flow-through console with Twin-Stick
transmission controls extended from the front to a contoured package tray in
the rear passenger compartment.

The instrument panel had a full augmentation of dial
instruments beneath a deeply padded safety hood dash that ran the width of the
interior.Finishing off the interior was
a steering wheel made of spring aluminum with a deeply recessed hub for safety.
The wheel rim was trimmed in natural walnut wood, complementing the walnut
accents on the inside door panels, and custom bucket seats.

Early Rambler Tarpon Designs

The Tarpon was
only a concept car but, had it gone into production, certain refinements would
have been required. For instance, there
was no trunk lid for access to luggage space. Also, the final version of the
Tarpon would probably have ridden on standard size 14 inch wheels instead of
the 13 inch aluminum wheels used on the prototype. Also, if the Tarpon had gone
from design to production as conceived (that is, on the American sized
chassis), there is a good chance that the “Marlin” story would have been quite
a bit different.

The
Designers

The automotive design team at Rambler/AMC was headed by Richard A.
Teague. Stuart Vance was Manager of Engineering and this included the body
development, as well as the prototype shop. Others involved with the Tarpon
were Teague's right hand man Fred Hudson (who later contributed to the Javelin
and AMX), Vince Geraci (who contributed to final look of the Marlin), Chuck
Mashigan (Advanced Studio Manager), Robert Nixon, Jack Kenitz, Donald Stumpf,
Neil Brown Jr., Bill St. Clair, Jim Pappas, as well as Jim Alexander (who
designed the interior).

Richard Teague was an automobile designer
at AMC for 26 years. He was responsible for some of AMC's timelessly beautiful
and advanced vehicles, as well as for some of the company's disappointments.
After his retirement as Vice President at AMC, Special Interest Autos Magazine (Hemmings
Motor News publication) interviewed Teague for their August 1986 issue. He
described the development of the fastback design:

"... We originally had a car called the Tarpon, which should
have been produced ... it was really a neat car, a tight little fastback. We
showed it to the S.A.E. (Society of Automotive Engineers) convention (February,
1964 in Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan) and everybody was steamed up about it!
But the thing that killed the Tarpon was the fact that we didn't have a V-8 for
it at that time.... [AMC president] Roy Abernathy didn't like little cars.
Never did. He liked big cars, because he was a big guy -- hell of a nice guy.
And he felt that this car was too small, so he said, "Well, heck, Teague,
why don't you just put it on the Rambler Classic wheel-base? That way you've
got V-8 availability and you've got more room inside it." And then on top
of that he added an inch to the roof while I was in Europe.
I still have never gotten over that..."

Teague was also responsible for the design of AMC's compact
Javelin, as well as the two-seat AMX. Both were ground breaking small fastback
sport coupes with well proportioned and timeless lines.

AMC’s Change of Vision

Automotive history shows that the Tarpon did not go into
production – nor was it ever intended for production.At that time, AMC was still developing its
"GEN-2" light-weight V8 engine that would fit the small Rambler
American chassis. If produced, the Tarpon would have been a competitor to the
Plymouth Barracuda, a fastback derivative of the second-generation compact
Valiant. Utilizing an existing compact platform would have paralleled the
Mustang's design approach whose chassis, suspension, and drive train were
derived from the Ford Falcon.

Early Marlin Design Sketch

However, AMC's market research indicated that offering only a
six-cylinder power plant would not satisfy the intended target market segment.
The new V8 engine was introduced in 1966 in a sportier hardtop model of the
Rambler American called Rogue. Moreover,
AMC's CEO, Roy Abernethy, wanted the company to move away from the marketing
image of Ramblers as being only small, economical, and conservative models and
designs.

Under Abernethy's leadership, the company was introducing larger
cars that had more options, prestige, and luxury. For example, the new
convertibles and more upscale Ambassador potentially offered higher profits.
Therefore, even though the four-seat Tarpon was shown to the public long before
the Mustang was unveiled, the decision at AMC was to build its sporty fastback
"image" model on the company's mid-sized or intermediate Classic
platform.

What happened was in 1964 George Romney, head of
Rambler, was elected governor of the state of Michigan, and Roy Abernethy took controls of
the company. He almost immediately shelved the Tarpon, wanting instead a bigger
car, an intermediate sports sedan based on the larger Rambler Classic chassis.
Abernethy wanted to match the "big three" model for model, option for
option and shed the economical compact car image Rambler had worked so hard to
create.

The idea was now to create a 3+3 sports car. The
fastback design was kept, but the roof line was raised one inch for increased
head room, the windshield was also changed back to the standard glass used in
current Classics. The new car was to be
called the Marlin. To try and maintain the sleek look, the rear side windows
were swept back even further and a striking two color paint scheme with
contrasting chrome trim was available.

The 13 inch aluminum wheels were changed back to
the standard 14 inch steel wheels and Marlin wheel covers added. The custom 2+2
bucket seats were gone as well as the full augmentation of dial gauges.All of these changes were done in less than a
year and as a testament to the engineering ability of AMC, the new Marlin was
ready for début in January of 1965

What
had brought Mr. Abernethy to the conclusion that the American-based Tarpon
should become a Classic-based Marlin? In essence, it was his desire to move
away from the George Romney inspired image of a company which built compact,
economical automobiles for families and value shoppers. Mr. Abernethy wanted to
take on the Big Three car-for-car and feature-for-feature, with a view toward
making the Big Three into the Big Four. As part of this scheme, the keystone to
AMC’s success (the lowly station wagon), was among the fatalities.Mr. Abernethy saw the Marlin as a way to make
a big splash in the pond the Big Three had been playing in.A flashy, intermediate car would be just the
thing to help achieve this objective.

1965 Marlin Clay Model

The new production model, called Marlin, was introduced mid-year
1965 and it added a little "sport" to AMC's car line-up. However, the
Marlin had six-passenger capacity and was a personal luxury car, rather than a
competitor in the so called pony-car segment. Nevertheless, the production
Marlin incorporated many of the design features that were the trademarks of the
Tarpon show car. Because it was a much larger car, the Marlin had even more
pronounced shoulders extending laterally behind the rear wheels than those on
the Tarpon. Although the Tarpon show car pointed the way, AMC waited until the
1968 model year to introduce a small fastback, the Javelin that was aimed
directly at the market segment created by Ford's Mustang.

Legacy of
the Tarpon

The Tarpon was the influence for the 1965-1967 AMC Marlin.
Moreover, components of the original Tarpon design returned to a production car
in 2004. Principal appearance statements of the small 2-seat Chrysler Crossfire
include its boat tail-like fastback and rear end design. Numerous automotive
journalists have noted the Crossfire's resemblance to the AMC Marlin and the
original Tarpon's rear-end. For example, Rob Rothwell wrote: "when I first
spied the rear lines of the Chrysler Crossfire I was instantly transported back
to 1965 and my favorite car of that year, the Rambler Marlin"